Design with California Native Plants

Los Altos Hills Residence

Slopes surrounding the new swimming pool were seeded with a custom mix of native grasses and wildflowers to create a native meadow. Pacific wax myrtle was used to create a hedge along one wall of the new pool house. In the backyard, new terraces were created with custom wooden retaining walls, and were planted with a variety of species including creeping sage, California fuchsia, manzanita, deer grass, and others.

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, San Jose

The Alchemy Garden is based on the four elements of alchemy, using California native and medicinal plants to emphasize the theme with colors and other properties. This and many other areas of the Rosicrucian Park had lawns replaced with native plants to reduce water use and maintenance, while also enhancing the habitat value and beauty of the park.

Santa Cruz Residence

This lawn replacement project features a variety of native shrubs and perennials to create a lush feeling despite design for drought tolerance. A rustic bench with a view of the open space across the street is backed by Ceanothus and other plants that mirror what is seen in the distance. In the front yard, a rain garden was created to capture and infiltrate overflow from rain barrels into the soil. It has been planted with rushes and sedges, along with flowering perennials that are tolerant of periodic inundation.

Los Gatos Residence

Large swaths of native plants, as well as drought-tolerant non-natives, were planted to replace the front and back lawns of this residence. In back, a decomposed granite badminton court was created among mounds of low-growing native plants.

Santa Cruz Memory Care Center

This design for the front entrance features a living Verdura retaining wall planted entirely with native species, as well as a bioswale, which is also planted entirely with natives including willow and rushes, that filters stormwater runoff from the newly constructed residential buildings above. A wheelchair accessible path meanders through the native garden that overflows with an abundance of flowers from native species including California buckwheat, California fuchsia, California aster, sticky monkeyflower, and many more. A pollinator’s paradise!